New Mexico Sets New Goals for Specific Renewable Power Sources

A new rule from the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (PRC)
has established specific targets for various renewable power sources that
utilities must meet in achieving the state's renewable energy
requirement. The New Mexico legislature extended the state's Renewable
Portfolio Standard (RPS) earlier this year, requiring utilities to
draw on renewable energy for 10% of their electricity by 2011 and for
20% of their electricity by 2020. In implementing that policy through
a new rule, the PRC took the unusual step of adding additional
requirements for how utilities will meet the RPS. Starting in 2011,
the new PRC rule requires solar power to provide at least 20% of the
renewable power supply, while wind power must provide at least 20% of
the renewable power, and biomass and geothermal energy must provide at
least 10%. In addition, distributed power sources must provide at
least 1.5% of the renewable power supply as of 2011, increasing to 3%
of the renewable power supply in 2015.

The new rule requires utilities to document their compliance with the
RPS through renewable energy credits (RECs) and also requires
utilities to track their use of RECs via the new Western Renewable
Energies Geographic Information System. Utilities will be excused from
the RPS targets if achieving them would raise the cost of electricity
by more than 2% or if diversification cannot be accomplished without
impairing system reliability. See the PRC press release (PDF 34 KB),
the final rule (PDF 101 KB),
and for background, the article from this newsletter
on the new RPS requirements.
Download Adobe Reader.